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Living, learning on common ground |
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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 |
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by MATT GRAVATT
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Though it may be known by many names, the Viking Castle, Hogwarts or simply the ‘L,’ the Living Learning Center holds special meaning for many students that live and learn within its halls.
The
LLC hosts students of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows, Watauga
College, International Exchange Students and freshmen with
multicultural backgrounds who are not part of the other programs.
The LLC operates with an “experimental attitude,” LLC Director Dr. Joe
Gonzales said. This attitude allows the LLC to function in a manner
that is not seen in other residence halls.
The administration of the LLC is a joint effort between the faculty and students.
Within the LLC, groups like People Who Care and Watauga Assembly, serve
as “a forum for students to voice concerns, and show support for the
community,” Tamara G. Boozell, a sophomore undeclared major and Watauga
Assembly president, said.
“It’s about finding the common ground,” she said.
Due to the nature of the LLC, there is perhaps a lack of understanding between other residences on campus.
“It is a smaller college within the university,” Hannah C. Briggs, a
freshman undecided major and resident of Cannon Residence Hall, said.
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“People live there, and also take some of their classes there,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what they do.”
This is why there is misunderstanding and perhaps “a little negativity,” Briggs said.
It is a nice place to live, Briggs said, and people on main campus might feel some jealousy against people that live there.
Also tied to the LLC is the Edible Schoolyard, a community garden
constructed by interdisciplinary studies program students, Watauga
College members and other university students.
The LLC fosters a unique community comprised of people with different
backgrounds, Elizabeth A. Wise, a junior middle grades education major
and a community guide in the LLC, said.
“[The] most interesting aspect of the LLC is the community,” Wise said.
“If [residents] are able to remember what they learned [in the LLC] and
apply it to their lives outside of college, it would better allow
[students] to understand the world [they] live in.”
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